Hi my husband and i are moving ourselves and our two kids(4 and 5) to costa blanca this November. We are looking to rent if we cannot find a piece of land to purchase(and build our home on). My hubby is a qualified joiner/builder and i work in childcare. Any advice you can offer use would be great.

You must have heard that the building trade in spain is not looking good right now. your husband may be able to get some work among expats (advertise in local newspapers etc), but I suspect it won't be much. It may not be enough to justify setting up as self employed.

You on the other hand, may be able to get a job as a nanny or in a bilingual nursery. look up bilingual nurseries in the yellow pages when you arrive and call them. betterstill, look them up onlinline and call them now (they'll advertise in spanish but will speak english). they may not have work for you in november though as term starts in mid september.

In fact, september would be abetter time to move anyway as obviously school term starts then (on the 15th, usually). go to the local town hall as soon as you arrive to find out about schools.

Finally the work situation being what it is, you must make sure you bring enough money to live on for at least 6 months (or 4 months plus enough to go home again). The Spanish social security "safety net" has some big holes in it.